Why is the CCTV in police appeals so crap ?

Emp_Fab

Just reading about those poor kids who were mowed down in Hayes.  The police have released a CCTV image of someone they want to trace, but yet again, it's got the resolution of a 1980's mobile phone with crap on the lens.  Why is it that in the age of HD-everything and cameras everywhere that can pick out what variety of spinach is stuck to your teeth, at night, in fog, that when it really matters, murders etc, we are always given photos that are awful ?

I know the answer, I'm just moaning.  It just seems annoying that it usually ends up with a shit photo being published.



To me, that looks like Willy Lopez from the film 'Ghost'....



I'm pretty sure it isn't him though.

joeyowen

money.

Sassafras

It gives them more leeway in choosing a suitable suspect.

BigBearKris

It seems that nobody gets hit by a car anymore. 
They're "mowed down" or "ploughed into"...

Phil_aka_Pip

BigBearKris said:

It seems that nobody gets hit by a car anymore. 
They're "mowed down" or "ploughed into"...

Same as a fire is a "blaze"

EricTheWeary

I’ve had to look at a few bits of cctv footage over the years and it’s always crap. No, I don’t know why it’s so poor. 

spark240

Probably because the camera is about 200m away so its zoomed to max to get this  

peteri

And many of them are still tape based and the tape is reused about 1000 times with the heads never cleaned 

mart

peteri said:

And many of them are still tape based and the tape is reused about 1000 times with the heads never cleaned 

Yes, but at least that gives the recordings a lush analogue warmth.

exocet

Combination of old technologies and limited budgets. The thing is with CCTV, not only do you need the camera technology to capture the image in low light conditions, you also need the network bandwidth to transmit it back to the control centre. If you have to lease circuits from a telecoms provider, that costs serious money.

Bucket

mart said:

peteri said:

And many of them are still tape based and the tape is reused about 1000 times with the heads never cleaned 

Yes, but at least that gives the recordings a lush analogue warmth.

I chuckled.

FelineGuitars

....and why is it when homeowners or shops do have Hi- definition CCTV that gives images of broadcast quality of a thief or burglar the police say that they can't use it / inadmissible in court etc

usedtobe

Aye, some of those cctv stills are so bad, you wouldn’t recognise yourself in them!

BRISTOL86

Anyone who knows that guy personally will recognise him from the photos. So I’d say the quality is sufficient. 

Emp_Fab

Did they ever find that jogger who pushed that woman in front of the bus on the bridge in London ?

duotone

Emp_Fab said:

Did they ever find that jogger who pushed that woman in front of the bus on the bridge in London ?

No, I don't think that they did.  They questioned one guy as I believe someone named him.  But during the time of the incident he was away on business, in Germany if my memory serves.

quarky

I wondered if it was to do with line-ups. Can you really select someone from a line-up, if a suspects picture has already been broadcast everywhere?

But it could of course just be crap technology..

mudslide73

It's a combination of camera res and recording frames per second. Sometimes if it's a really old Pan/Tilt/Zoom system blurryness can also be introduced through the movement of the camera while it's on its tour. Newer systems don't compress the footage as much either. So yes... money.

HAL9000

Is it because the police use similar cameras to those used for taking pictures of UFOs?  Despite there being plenty of decent cameras about, UFOs only ever get photographed in grainy black and white 

chillidoggy

Phil_aka_Pip said:

BigBearKris said:

It seems that nobody gets hit by a car anymore. 
They're "mowed down" or "ploughed into"...

Same as a fire is a "blaze"

And nobody ever get taken to hospital, they're always 'rushed'.

And people always 'get into difficulties', which is the euphemism for someone who's drowning.

Emp_Fab

Don't forget the classic aviation hyperbole - a bit of paint peels off an armrest and it's "TERROR IN THE SKIES !! - "WE ALL THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO DIE ! - says dumbass fucker in seat 23B".